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Communication in Wereforms
Roleplaying in Were form Silver and Bone does not have a dedicated werewolf language, and naturally werewolves are going to have quite a bit of problems speaking human language without the Learned Eloquence ability. For a more detailed explanation on the animal mind and insight into how to approach and express it through writing, check out our Eclipsing and How to Write The Werewolf's Wolf section. But for those who have more control of their were forms, or whose 'wolf' isn't outright aggressive, how does communicating with other weres work? This is a guide how to use body language to do the job. However, it is important to stress that when RPing your character in any form but human (or in the rare case of being Eclipsed while in human form), the player must use an indicator of some kind to convey use of their non-verbal language. For some it's as detailed as a description in prose; Zeke cocked his head in question. ""Is that how it's done?"" asked the look on his face, because no human words escaped his jaws. For others it can be a symbol such as a "/" or "~" or even the "dialogue" typed in italics.: Italics: Zeke cocked his head in question. Is that how it's done? / or ~: Zeke cocked his head in question. /Is that how it's done?/ If your character has the Learned Eloquence ability, and can speak some human tongue, then it should sound rough, broken, guttural. Maybe even with a slight trace of their human voice somewhere underneath but remember they're trying to speak through a differently formed mouth with lips that have a much more limited range of movement than a human's, enlarged teeth (with fangs), and a larynx and voicebox better designed for growling than eloquence. Although conceivably, werewolves still have a greater range of sounds than a dog, for ideas on how this may sound, there are many videos on youtube featuring dogs trying to "speak". Of course, as the character advances with this ability, it may improve but it's very rare that a werewolf will ever communicate with the same verbal proficiency as they do in human form. ((Note, I am going to list only wolf language, everyone can add their own takes here)) Wolves The most important thing the wolf body language in roleplaying is to simplify it so it doesn't clog the roleplay into a social bout of Morse coding. Including specific gestures is fine, but you should not expect your roleplaying partner to 'read' wolf to understand what your character is saying. The best method is to summarize what your character is saying with some gestures added as a garnish. For example; : Cecil grimaced, his needle-like teeth bared at the stranger. The wolf kept his tail up, implying to the stranger wolf to listen to him or submit. Once that was done, his hackles deflated and the monk offered a friendly hand towards the stranger. Point is to be clear and simple unless communication misunderstanding is the plan of the roleplay. Of course, hand gestures are more than useful, especially to add more nuance to communication. Category:Character Creation Category:Lore